Eternal Life Inc. Read Free Page B

the car’s holo-screen lit up with a zombie slave program of a square-jawed, military construct. “You are entering restricted air space! Please stop and identify yourself!” Its voice, laced with threatening subsonics, boomed from the speakers.
    Diana looked over at her sister. The muttering, hissing growls had gotten louder as she tossed her head from side to side and occasionally banged it against the head rest in a fit of violent frustration. Blood began to drip from her nose and ooze out ofher ears. Diana decided to ignore the robot defense warnings and pushed on through the inner defense perimeter.
    The grav-car’s sensors recorded weapons systems locking on, and the military construct raised his voice. “You have entered restricted airspace! This is private property. According to Jurisdiction Law 58j6, paragraph 5, we can use all necessary force to stop you. Please be advised, you are putting your life at risk if you continue.”
    Once again, Diana ignored the warning and pushed on. By now, alarm bells should be going off all over the island. That should fire up his processors and make the old fart sit up and take notice, she thought.
    “This is your last chance!” the construct screamed. “Weapons system are activated and locked on!”
    Diana slowed fractionally and shouted, “Jericho it’s me, Diana Lloyd! I need your help!”
    The military construct’s threatening protests cut off in mid screech, and the holo-image dissolved into distortion pixels and went blank for a few seconds.
    When it cleared, Jericho appeared pulling on a ratty, old, velvet robe that had once been the color of vintage burgundy. His thatch of gray hair stood out in disheveled spikes. He blinked sleepily as he fumbled on an ancient pair of wire rim spectacles. When he set them on his nose, the lenses dissolved into a glowing pixel fog. A second later, they cleared again as the spectacles connected to the data sphere. The old man stared through them directly at her. “Diana?” he said.
    “You should know,” she said and glanced over at her sensor array. The number of weapons locking on to her had gone way beyond overkill. “Now call off your dogs!” she shouted.
    Jericho said nothing. His china blue eyes studied her carefully as if she was some kind of rare butterfly he was considering for his collection. At last, he turned and shuffled over to a leather, wing backed chair and sat down. He steepled his fingers andtapped them thoughtfully against his chin and waited.
    “Nano Trees…Jake Lloyd…Anubis invasion!” Diana shouted in exasperation. “God Damnit, it’s started! My father was right!”
    “Ah, why didn’t you say so?” Jericho smiled and, with a wave of his hand, all targeting systems cut off. He shook his head. “One can’t be too careful, you know.”

3
    Playacting
    Harry rode the long, slow waves of consciousness up out of darkness. He did not try to force the process but instead lay quietly monitoring his body and letting his senses expand, rippling outward, testing the world around him. He was in bed. He could feel the rasp of fresh linen against his newly cloned, naked body. Usually when he woke up in a new body, there was a feeling of vigorous health and well-being. This time he felt a sense of physical depletion coupled with a dull, throbbing pain in his back. He felt the pull of bandages and the cooling touch of medicaments against pain. He was almost tempted to regress to his Ka and explore the source of his discomfort but decided not to risk it. They would be watching him closely. Better wait until later.
    He heard the soft hum of the monitors and felt the cool, metallic touch of the pickups attached to his skin. He was careful to control the output of information the pickups received, a man resting peacefully, just coming into the first stages of awakening from deep sedation. There would be no sign on the monitors of the wide-awake mind that hid behind his sleeping features.
    He could almost taste